New Charlotte Hornets big man Naz Reid is ranked the 17th-best center in the NBA.
HoopsHype ranked new Charlotte Hornets big man Naz Reid the 17th-best center in the NBA.
Reid is one spot ahead of Isaiah Hartenstein of the Oklahoma City Thunder and one spot behind Donovan Clingan of the Portland Trail Blazers.
Charlotte acquired Reid from the Minnesota Timberwolves in the blockbuster LaMelo Ball trade.
Reid won the 2023-24 Sixth Man of the Year award. He enters next season with regular-season averages of 11.9 points, 5.1 rebounds, and 1.5 assists per game and playoff averages of 10.6 points, 4.8 rebounds and 1.4 assists per game.
For Minnesota last season, Reid averaged 13.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game while shooting 45.6% from the field, 36.2% from beyond the arc and 73.2% from the free-throw line. He recorded six double-doubles.
Reid will make $23,275,862 next season. Multiple teams tried to acquire him from the Hornets, but Charlotte is keeping the talented power forward.
The Hornets are expected to start Coby White, Brandon Miller, Kon Knueppel, Reid and Moussa Diabaté next season. That's a strong starting five on paper.
While Reid is a great additions, Charlotte's success is dependent on Miller and Knueppel, the new franchise players in Charlotte with Ball and Bridges gone. Both youngsters have a lot of untapped potential.
Miller appeared in 65 games for the Hornets last season, his third year in the NBA. He averaged 20.2 points, 4.9 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game while shooting 43.5% from the field, 38.3% from beyond the arc and 89.2% from the free-throw line.
Meanwhile, even though Knueppel didn't win the 2025-26 Rookie of the Year award, he still had a special season for the Hornets. The swingman averaged 18.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game and shot 47.5% from the field, 42.5% from 3 and 86.3% from the free-throw line. He led the NBA in 3-pointers.
Miller enters this upcoming season with career averages of 19.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game. He was the second overall pick in the 2023 draft.
According to NBA insider Jake Fischer of Bleacher Report, the Hornets could sign Miller to a $208 million rookie-scale extension. If Charlotte and Miller don't agree to a rookie-scale extension for whatever reason, Miller will become a restricted free agent next offseason.
It will be intriguing to see if Charlotte can snap its playoff drought in Year 1 of the post-Ball-Bridges era.
Charlotte opens the 2026-27 season on the road against the Brooklyn Nets. The home opener is against the Atlanta Hawks.
